How does one measure success as a baseball player? Championships are obviously a place to begin, but MVPs may count even more. Baseball, with its 9 players involved in each aspect of the game, is much less about the play of one man than is football or basketball. It's rare that we describe baseball players as "taking over games" or "catching fire". Baseball is a slower game, told in the day-to-day accumulation of stats and percentages. One at bat tells very little about a player, but career totals send a clear message.
If stats are to be especially valued in baseball arguments, then the debate between Hank Aaron and Willie Mays is a truly interesting one.
Hits: Aaron 3771, Mays 3283
HomeRuns: Aaron 755, Mays 660
RBIs: Aaron 2297, Mays 1903
Batting Avg: Aaron .305, Mays .302
MVPs: Mays 2, Aaron 1
Titles: Aaron 1, Mays 1
Steals: Mays 338, Aaron 240
Gold Gloves: Mays 12, Aaron 3
On Base Pct: Mays .384, Aaron .374
What's obvious to me is that Aaron was the better hitter, and Mays the better fielder. Mays was faster (as evidenced by more steals), but Aaron seemed more powerful and more durable. Aaron's 95 home run and 394 RBI edges are significant. And his slight advantage in batting average, .305 to .302, gives him a very strong case for superiority at the plate.
But Mays came before Aaron, and he was a smiling, endearing figure known as "the Say Hey Kid." He made highlight plays in the field and had 2 50-home-run seasons (52 and 51). He was perhaps the first superior athlete in major American sports. There's something about the fact that he never broke Babe Ruth's hallowed record (714 homeruns) that almost makes him easier to like.
Hank Aaron bested one of the greatest records in all of sports when he hit home run no. 715 in 1974. Many people cringed at seeing the immortal Babe Ruth replaced in the record books. Little did we know how much more we'd cringe when Aaron was passed by the steroid-using cheater, Barry Bonds. Much respect to Hank Aaron, the only steroid-free man to hit 715 home runs.
Advantage: AARON
